YukonShadow

Last night I checked for Labs in the area we were planning to cache in and found about 7-8 and selected two. I opened them, got the locations, etc. Then today when we parked at the start of one Lab the app only showed two Labs in the area and neither one would open. Back at home, they appeared and would open. We've successfully done Labs without problems including in January. We checked our phone settings and all should have allowed the app to work as before. Any ideas what's going on?

I had hoped to find a solution to this issue in the forum so I'm rather surprised and disappointed nothing has been done after all this time. Won't someone please let us know what's happening with this problem?

I found the setting that deleted them and changed it. I still wish AL's counted as one cache like a Multi that showed up in my list of finds. The first three we did counted each stage but the last one we just finished of 10 stages doesn't show up at all.

I did not proactively do that. We just finished the last answer but then when I wanted to see the name since it was similar to another one it had disappeared.

I'm guessing that some month the lab caches will show up in my found list of caches since each stage is counted as a cache which throws off my stats with ghost entities. I don't like the fact that they disappear from the app after we've done them and that they never show up on the laptop map. I like to plan ahead for caching in an area and want to be able to see all types of caches there. Hopefully they will soon appear in our stats list too.

I agree that creating "Discover" for coins/TB's was a bad idea. I've done a few but don't really understand the desire to do it unless there are challenge caches related to quantities you have found. Doing it this fake way undermines any such challenge. Sad they dragged Project-GC into it. The least Groundspeak could do is tell cachers its forbidden even if they don't follow through on the policing.

I just got logs from 3 people in the Netherlands that discovered a TB named for us by a cacher who has been dormant for 3 years and the TB went missing long before that. One said found online, another on Facebook. Not being the owner of the TB I can't delete the logs, its just on my watchlist. I asked someone years ago what they did if they thought a cacher was logging their virtual cache from home rather than actually being at the cache and he replied that if they want to cheat its on them but he couldn't police all of them. I have the same problem with our virtuals as its impossible to know if each log came from a true visitor. I suppose Groundspeak could set up a page where we could identify the cacher and TB and they could send them a warning to delete all such logs and stop doing that or risk having their account closed but it sounds like its become a huge problem and they wouldn't want to spend that much time on the issue. I don't understand why people feel justified in cheating, what's the point?

Thank you to all the people who helped answer my many frustrations about the new maps. We came home from a trip to find worthless maps that didn't show much or anything at all including caches I knew still exited. I don't expect Groundspeak to return to the old system but at least you helped me find workarounds for now. (Why do all programmers add in extra clicks when one used to work?) "Browse" should definitely be the default page.

We scored 530 points as of today and but have received the final two souvenirs. Is this a temporary glitch system wide?

I am unable to open the Message feature most of the time so now that I don't get emails when they come in, I can't read or respond to them sometimes for days. I just get the swirling green circles that goes on and on.... Any help for this? I have a MAC.

What happened to the Bookmark icon on cache pages? Is it only available on the phone app now?

I'm a premium member and just tried Ranger's technique but the GPX file just disappeared into the ether. It did not show up in Basecamp or the desktop. Any ideas?

Basecamp can send the files as GPX, into the proper folder on the GPSr. So that would be a work-around until you solve the "EXE" mystery. Yes, it seems if I open basecamp, hit the gpx file button it goes to my downloads corner AND desktop (set up for downloads) if I click either it goes to my basecamp 'my collection'. When I am done I highlight all the caches in my collection and up at the top of basecamp hit send to gps. It worked. All info is on gps as it should be. I am writing my steps for anyone after me who has had the same issues. A work around that works. All you need to do is download basecamp. I like being able to see what I am doing and that it is all going to basecamp, where if I drug it to gps I wouldn't know until I unplugged and rebooted gps to look at geocaches. I suppose it would work for non-premium members as well.

I've never seen a challenge cache like that. The ones I've seen always say to find 26 food caches. Sure, you can meet the challenge without any effort by sorting through your found list, but that's only because of an earlier rule that prevented the challenge cache owner from saying "starting now". But you're free to ignore that and tackle the actual challenge by going out and finding 26 more food caches. Obviously I was referring to what Harry Dolphin said not you, Narcissa.

It seems to me that the problem Narcissi had in her area should have been handled by the reviewers not allowing those caches once that had been brought to their attention. I don't find searching for 26 different foods to be boring but a challenge not only to see if I have them but to go out and complete the list. This makes me look and discover a lot of caches I might not have bothered with before. All types of "title word" challenges gave me more fun than just a routine cache outing. We've been caching since 2001 and I found it a refreshing new slant on looking for caches. And again, I ask why does it bother other cachers if we have this type of challenge while there are thousands out there that aren't "title word" challenges?

I seem to remember that Groundspeak said they'd review their new Challenge cache rules after a year and see if they should remain. So I'm putting my two cents in again for the return of title word challenges. Most of the cachers I talk to at events miss them and want them back (but then again we all wanted Virtuals returned as well). Since they were stopped, we've had only a few new challenge caches created in our area and they don't interest me at all just like a lot of puzzle caches don't appeal to me. With GSAK it is easy to see if you qualify and even their new system works on some of them as well. I just don't understand why anyone thinks it makes Geocaching better to take away caches that brought so much fun to so many of us while keeping a lot of caches that many people will never attempt. I don't care if ones I can't/won't do exist so why take away ones I prefer?

I had to laugh when I saw the example given for a challenge trail that was a problem. We walked it several years ago and at the time we qualified for maybe 25-33% of the ones we signed. We went back later and signed a few more; in the meantime we started qualifying for more of them. It's been fun just to keep them in the back of our minds that we will eventually qualify for all of them or maybe not. They're all doable by regular cachers who love this activity. I'm also confused by cachers who want to get every cache in their world and therefore would easily qualify for just about every "title word" cache that exists so they should love them. Crazy challenge trails like "get 100,000 caches, get 75,000 caches, etc" shouldn't be allowed by reviewers unless placed in very unusual locations not likely to be wanted by other CO's.

"Often" is kind of a relative term, but here is one local example: Wait, that's an example of a problem you think needs solved?? "Relative", indeed: that series is wildly popular. Let's just look at the 4 northern most: 8 Icons in a Day Challenge 61 finds Streak - California Challenge of a Century 143 finds Earthcache - California Challenge of a Century 79 finds LetterboxHybrid -California Challenge of a Century 88 finds. We need more problems like this. I've even found a couple further south myself. (As a "newbie" before I'd been caching a year, by the way.) If you're trying to convince me GS is trying to solve a serious problem with run away challenge caches, you just completely blew it. Is that really the best you can do?

That's what I assumed but I think Groundspeak better state that clearly so more of these bogus "logs" don't occur.

We need an answer quickly as to whether grandfathered challenge caches can no longer require the ALR. Someone just claimed a find for a cache they signed but have no intention of listing their qualifiers. That stinks but as I said, cheaters abound in life. I would just like to know what Groundspeak planned for such a situation. I can't believe they meant for grandfathered challenges to become traditionals.

How quickly I went from elation that Challenge caches had returned to utter despair when I read what was now prohibited. My favorite type, title words, are gone. We've completed 67 Challenges and are working on dozens more. It only became difficult to work on when Groundspeak changed their search format from a word search to "cache starts with" but once they instituted their new filter search, it became very easy to see qualifying caches we've found and caches we need to find to fulfill a Challenge. Why do people find that so difficult to do? Thanks to CanadianRockies for pointing out the inconsistency of Groundspeak in judging Challenges more difficult to accomplish then a T4-5 or crazy Multi's, etc. As I wrote when the moratorium first started, there are many caches we'll never be able to do such as high terrain or difficult puzzles but I don't mind their existence for other people. We don't like searching on busy streets, where homeless hang out or behind some businesses but I don't ask for them to be forbidden just because they make us uncomfortable. I think the "casual" cacher would have more problems with those then with an interesting Challenge. My favorite type of cache before Challenges started (after the early days of caching when a big box would contain very interesting items) were Virtuals that took us to hidden places only locals knew about. Those have been lost and now fun Challenges are gone. I really think the only type now allowed are more difficult, boring and already exist so I don't see many interesting new ones popping up in the future. I had just put our first Challenge cache out before the moratorium started and had ideas for more but now they're not allowed. As for cheaters and whiners, there will always be some in any human activity but it's their loss if that's how they want to go through life. Don't let them ruin the entire activity. If some community has CO's putting out "exclusive" caches, than that community has to point them out to the reviewers and their caches shouldn't get approved but why do all of us have to suffer because of those few bad actors. Oh well, I really needed help extracting myself from this previously addictive pursuit so I guess the new rules will accomplish that once we finish the grandfathered Challenges.

I hadn't even thought about the ratings. I think it starts to get complicated trying to have two sets of D/T's for these caches so I think perhaps only cachers who qualify for the challenges should get to sign the logs unless some sort of "discovery" cache type is created.

For the final question I would like to have been able to say that I don't mind if cachers who don't qualify for a challenge cache find the physical cache but it shouldn't count the same way. There should be a different type of symbol for that type of find. I can't even figure out the location of many puzzle caches and they interfere with putting out new caches because we don't know where they are but I still think they have the right to exist. And just because I can no longer find a lot of T4 or T5 caches doesn't mean they shouldn't be put out there for cachers who can. Just needed a little opportunity to flesh out some answers. Thanks.

Me too, especially since the Word Search is now useless though it would also be easier if the cache names popped up alongside the maps like they used to. That was the best way to find caches that fit Challenge requirements within an area.

As am I.